Fired OnLive Employees May Find New Home At Microsoft


OnLive employees were shocked to learn one week ago that they were being fired without notice. While OnLive has hired back half of its staff many of the remaining employees still on leave from the company could be headed to Microsoft.

The company said on Sunday that it would love to pick up some of OnLive’s former talent. Microsoft in order to woo those software experts has gone so far as to plan mixer. Microsoft hiring managers will be on-hand to speak with attendees and gauge their interest in joining the Microsoft team.

Microsoft is calling the event the Interactive Entertainment Business & OnLive Mixer and it will be held on Monday, August 27 at the company’s campus in Silicon Valley.

OnLive fell apart after the company’s CEO took a gamble by expanding its server holdings far beyond the company’s ability to support them financially. Microsoft believes that the employees working at OnLive brought the type of innovation that can give Microsoft “the next major online innovations to the entertainment industry.”

While Microsoft will target other outside employees at the mixer as well, the fact that OnLive is named in the invitation suggests that Microsoft is about to get even more serious about its online game streaming efforts which already includes Xbox Live, the most popular online gaming platform in the world.

The acquisition of OnLive employees would allow Microsoft to counter Sony’s recent gaming cloud acquisition of Gaikai at a cost of $380 million.

Do you think cloud-based gaming is set to become a big focus for traditional console companies?

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